The Uttarakhand High Court disposed of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) pending since 2019 , expressing concern over the proposed construction of the Base Station/ Terminus of the Ranibagh Nainital Ropeway at Hanumangarhi on the ecologically fragile Manora Peak towards South of the Town/ Lake. The petitioner sought a direction to the respondents to re-plan the Ranibagh Nainital Ropeway by making the Base Station/ Terminus at any safer place, other than the geologically fragile Hanumangarhi area situated at the Manora Peak.
The petitioner has placed on record the judgment of the Supreme Court in Dr. Ajay Singh Rawat v. Union of India and others, (1995) 3 SCC 266. The directions issued by the Supreme Court in the said judgment relate, primarily, to the Naini Lake and the town of Nainital. The seventh direction issued in the seventh paragraph of the said judgment states “The fragile nature of Ballia Ravine has to be taken care of. The cracks in the revetment of Ballia Nala have to be repaired urgently.”
The petitioner claimed that the proposed construction of the Base Station at Hanumangarhi would be catastrophic, looking to the fragile nature of the rock in the said area.
C.S. Rawat, Chief Standing Counsel , submits that the whole project has now been taken up by the National Highways Logistics Management Limited, which is a limb of the National Highways Authority of India, which is undertaking the detailed technical survey with regard to the feasibility of construction of the Ranibagh Nainital Ropeway, with the Base Station at Hanumangarhi area situated at the Manora Peak. The geotechnical and soil survey has been undertaken. The instructions further state that, after digital feasibility has been got conducted, for which tenders have been invited, it is likely that by October, 2023, the final decision in that regard would be taken.
The Division Bench of Chief Justice Vipin Sanghi and Justice Rakesh Thapliyal have no reason to assume that the NHAI, which is a professional and responsible body, would not take into account all the relevant aspects before taking a decision to construct the said Ropeway, with its Base Station at Hanumangarhi area situated at the Manora Peak.
“In the light of the disaster, we have experienced at Joshimath recently, the authorities would be well advised to take lessons from the same, and undertake developmental activities, keeping in view the geological situation at the proposed location of the Base Station”, said the Court.